


Where Lives Overlap

by GeeLiz_98



Series: 30 Day Chanbaek Challenge [5]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Broken Families, Chanbaek love each other very much, Chanyeol is a clown, Coming Out, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Secret Relationship, Smut, Step-parents, but he means well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:15:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeeLiz_98/pseuds/GeeLiz_98
Summary: Chanyeol and Baekhyun have a perfect life together and are completely in love.There is only one thing that comes between them: Chanyeol had a life before Baekhyun and he has a lovely young son to show for it.Except no one from Chanyeol's past knows why he ran away from his marriage. Least of all his ex-wife who is becoming suspicious of the strange young man who is always in Chanyeol's home.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun & Park Chanyeol, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol & Original Female Character(s)
Series: 30 Day Chanbaek Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081331
Comments: 7
Kudos: 47





	Where Lives Overlap

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not even going to say what the prompt was for this one bc it is only mentioned in two sentences at the start...sorry if there are typos. I have proofread it but the words are all blurring into one now afsajf
> 
> Enjoy!

_ Dear Chanyeol _

_ Change of plans. You can have Minsoo today. I’m busy. _

_ Hyerin  _

In life, there were two things that Chanyeol cherished more than anything else. First would be sleep. Given his hectic career and social life, sleep was like gold dust and barely blessed him with its sweet embrace. Anything above 5 hours a night felt like a miracle to him.

The second would be the mornings he got to wake up next to his boyfriend. Chanyeol’s work as a legal advisor could have him out until all inhumane hours of the night and Baekhyun’s job as a nurse meant that he could be out of the house at whatever time the direction of the wind commanded. 

Therefore, the only day that held sanctity in Chanyeol’s life was Saturday; he could sleep in until any hour he did so desire, able to stay in bed all day if he wished to, and Saturday was the one day a week when he and Baekhyun both had the day off. 

Saturdays were for spending in bed, sleeping, rolling around together, watching TV, talking aimlessly about anything and everything. Enjoying each other’s company because doing so was a luxury.

Another luxury they enjoyed together had to be morning sex. Lazy, sleepy, incredibly intimate sex that they could share before the world had even woken up. 

“Hmm,” Chanyeol hummed in bliss as Baekhyun slowly rocked into him once more, leisurely moving his hips as he lay on top of Chanyeol, his legs parallel to Chanyeol’s own as they both lay face down on the bed, “this is nice.”

With one particularly deep thrust, Baekhyun made contact with Chanyeol’s prostate as he let out his own contended hum.

“Thanks for the review,” Baekhyun hissed, Chanyeol’s position making the hole into which he moved even tighter, his ass cheeks squeezing tightly around Baekhyun’s length, “I’m not having a bad time either.”

There was no rush so they took their time, breathing deeply until they both turned boneless, able to bask in nothing but the electrifying feeling of warm skin touching warm skin and a constant, enduring heat bubbling under the surface as their pleasure grew.

Baekhyun’s orgasm rolled through him first, his release filling Chanyeol and only adding to heat and comfort Chanyeol felt as he continued to edge towards his own finish. 

“I love you,” Baekhyun spoke directly into Chanyeol’s neck, sucking a particularly sensitive spot right below Chanyeol’s right earlobe which always made his boyfriend shiver right down to his toes. He didn’t stop the rolling of his hips until he heard the telltale, strangled hiss, a sign that Chanyeol had climaxed too.

“I love you, too,” Chanyeol replied, his eyes blown so that they were completely back, straining his neck so that could reach Baekhyun’s lips and kiss him sloppily, lazily, unbothered by the awkward position, what with Baekhyun still inside of him, or gross dampness on the sheets underneath him.

“Chanyeol? You know cause it’s actually still quite early?” Baekhyun started, his voice saccharine and cute which usually meant he wanted something, “can we go out for breakfast?”

All of the exhaustion and every aching bone and muscle in Chanyeol’s body gathered together to form the most grouchy grumble he could muster. Not having the energy to move, Chanyeol pushed Baekhyun off of his back by pushing his ass at a funny angle and he pulled the bed covers over himself. 

The trouble with their relationship was this: Chanyeol was what he liked to call “on the older side of young”. He was 33 years of age, what he liked to think of as being very mature, very successful and established in his career. He had been married and was divorced which he believed gave him great life experience. He was also tired. Like, all of the time.

Baekhyun, however, was seemingly never tired. As a 23-year-old newly qualified nurse, he was a spritely young thing, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He loved going for morning runs, going out clubbing and, unfortunately for Chanyeol, he liked going out for breakfast. 

“Ugh, do we have to? We have breakfast in the house…”

Then again, maybe Chanyeol was just really lazy.

“I know,” Baekhyun whined with a pout which always disarmed Chanyeol to the point where he couldn’t look at it in case he lost his nerve, “but we never do anything fun together! And when you say we have breakfast, I know you mean that we have wholemeal bread. That tastes like ass.”

“Well,” Chanyeol turned and lifted the bed covers over both of their heads, “you would know about that.”

His boyfriend let out an unattractive snort and snuggled up to Chanyeol under the covers, smirking at him before turning his attention back to the spot under Chanyeol’s ear, sucking harder this time so that it would most definitely leave a mark.

“Mnnh, don’t do that...aaaah…”

“Why?” Baekhyun answered but he made no move to actually stop, far too spurred on by Chanyeol’s wonderful noises. 

“Because,” Chanyeol continued, reaching behind himself to palm Baekhyun’s ass. He loved his ass and how tight it was. Chanyeol didn’t have an ass anymore. Well, he never did to begin with but now he really didn’t. “I’m not a teenager. I can’t go to work with a fucking hickey on my neck.”

Finally giving up (but too late judging by the way Chanyeol’s neck tingled), Baekhyun decided to press his dick in between Chanyeol’s cheeks instead, massaging himself as Chanyeol clenched around him.

“You know, for an old man, you are actually really fucking good in bed.”

“Ha. Thanks a bunch.”

They often joked like this, about Chanyeol being old and wise while Baekhyun was young and dumb but that wasn’t really the case. They were, after all, both adults who both paid the rent on the house and both worked. They were certainly equals in their relationship. Well, apart from when Baekhyun was seconds away from penetrating Chanyeol’s hole: then Baekhyun was most definitely the one in control. 

Just as Baekhyun was about to start to plough into Chanyeol with much more vigour than the first time round, he was stopped in his movements by the doorbell ringing.

“For fucks sake!” He pulled out of Chanyeol and flopped onto his back, almost enraged that they had been interrupted. Not like it really mattered; they had all day. “Who the hell is that?”

Chanyeol had to stop himself from snapping back. How the hell was he supposed to know? Instead, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and searched for his boxers on the floor. 

“I dunno...maybe it’s Kyungsoo,” he scrambled around in a pile of washing to find a t-shirt and eventually settled on one belonging to Baekhyun, “he said he had some paperwork for me.”

“Well tell him to piss off!” Baekhyun was also climbing out of bed and pulling on one of Chanyeol’s massive uni hoodies, “you don’t work on Saturdays so you shouldn’t have to see Kyungsoo.”

If only it were that simple, Chanyeol thought. All he could do to make it up to Baekhyun was offer him a sympathetic smile and a kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll be quick,” he promised. 

As soon as he opened the front door, however, his mind raced through a million ways he could get Baekhyun to forgive him for making a promise he couldn’t keep. 

Because the person on the step was the last person he expected to see. 

“Hyerin!?” 

See, while Chanyeol had been married and was subsequently divorced, there was one key factor which led to the unfortunate need to see his ex-wife on a regular basis. But never on a Saturday. Because Saturday was a day Baekhyun was at home. 

“You could at least put some trousers on,” Hyerin spat, her voice laced with venom, unable to sound like she hated Chanyeol more if she tried. Touche. He didn’t like her either. “And what on earth is that on your t-shirt?” She turned her nose up at the innocent piece of fabric, referring to the photographic print of Baekhyun’s favourite drag queen, Violet Chachki, dressed in a rhinestone corset and lace stockings. Chanyeol hadn’t even looked at it when he picked it up and simply shrugged her off. She always was a square.

“A drag queen...what’s your problem?” He hovered in the doorway but was more than ready to shut the door and get back into bed. 

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate to wear around kids,” she said, glaring into his eyes.

“But there aren’t any kids here so what does it m-”

Then he saw what Hyerin was holding in her hand. A tiny rucksack, a kids rucksack, printed with children's TV characters. 

Fuck.

Another reason why Saturdays were sacred was because Saturday was the one day where Chanyeol and Baekhyun could comfortably spend time together without being rumbled. Because Chanyeol had something else in his life that he cherished as much as his relationship with Baekhyun but if those two things ever mixed, his ex wife would quite possibly cut his balls off. 

“Hi, dad!” 

A tiny boy appeared in the doorway, all smiles, clearly happy to be spending the day with his dad, possibly even the night if the teddy bear held under his arm was anything to go by. Fluffy was the bear’s name and he went everywhere with Minsoo. Who was Chanyeol’s son. And absolutely wasn’t supposed to be in the house on Saturday’s, the one day when Baekhyun wasn’t working. 

“Hi, monkey!” Chanyeol’s voice came out fraught but the little boy wouldn’t have noticed, especially not since he was being lifted into the air and peppered with kisses by his dad. He loved it when Chanyeol spun him around in the air because, to a small boy, Chanyeol was a friendly giant. “Why don’t you go and wait in the kitchen and I’ll talk to mommy for a sec. We can have pancakes!” 

Baekhyun was going out to buy pancakes. After all, he did like to boast how much energy he had. 

“What the fuck are you playing at?” Chanyeol was fuming. Now that Minsoo was gone and the front door was shut, he was ready to rip into Hyerin. “This wasn’t in the custody agreement. I have him Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You can’t just turn up like this! It’s not fucking okay!”

“I did email you,” she spat back, always giving as good as she got, “I have stuff to do.”

“You did not email me,” he would know because he checked his emails every single night. Email was the only means by which they could communicate without hell breaking loose. Texts were too immediate and resulted in blood matches. Social media was a no because, well, Chanyeol had a secret. And that secret was currently in their shared bed in their shared house where his son was waiting for him. “You have to take him home.”

“I emailed you this morning,” she was so smug that it made Chanyeol’s blood boil, “if you were too busy to check your phone that’s not my problem. It isn’t like you have anything else to do.”

Another thing Hyerin took great pleasure in doing was hammering home the fact that she had a boyfriend, some fancy man with loads of money and an expensive car, whom she obviously liked for his personality. She loved to gloat because she had moved on and he hadn’t. 

Little did she know that Chanyeol had been dating someone else for far longer than she had known this other man, or that he lived with him. And that he was upstairs…

“I am busier than you think,” he replied pathetically but his lack of evidence made it hard to believe.

“It’s just one day,” she finally clarified what the hell was going on slightly, “I gave him the teddy to freak you out, to be honest,” she lifted her hand to inspect her grotesque pink acrylic nails, “but if you refuse, I can always call my lawyer…”

“You are such a bitch…”

She smiled at that, knowing full well how manipulative she was being. With the lift of a perfectly plucked eyebrow, she dared him to challenge her, knowing that he was wrapped around her little finger. Then she turned on her heel and waved to him.

“Byeeeeee!”

“How long will you be!?” He called but she didn’t even turn around. 

One of these days, Chanyeol wondered if they would actually cause a blood bath. She would obviously win in a fight with her ruthless attitude and sharp nails. She’d probably just claw his eyes out. 

Feeling defeated, Chanyeol headed back into the house and composed himself. His fights with Minsoo’s mother had nothing to do with his son and he hated the idea of the small boy picking up on the bad energy. As far as Minsoo was concerned, Chanyeol and Hyerin were best friends and Chanyeol was determined to keep it that way. 

He made his way into the kitchen to see Minsoo, sitting alone at the kitchen island, playing with some legos that he kept at Chanyeol’s house, unaware that he wasn’t supposed to be there or that he was being unfairly pushed and pulled between his two parents who hated each other so much. 

“Hey, buddy,” Chanyeol ruffled his son’s hair, laughing when Minsoo complained. He was only 6 years of age but he already took pride in his appearance, something he definitely got from his mom. “You okay?”   
  


“Yeah,” Minsoo wasn’t a chatty child but he was really smart, his mind moving a mile a minute at all times. Chanyeol loved talking to him more than anything. “I didn’t know I was seeing daddy today so I didn’t bring my Star Wars drawing to show you…”

Something Minsoo and Chanyeol both shared a passion for was art, more specifically drawing their shared favourite movie and TV characters. Art was something Chanyeol could share with his son that his mother couldn’t so he cherished it very much. When he had seen his son earlier in the week, they had been drawing Star Wars characters, Chanyeol teaching Misoo how to draw the intricacies of R2D2 but Hyerin had come to collect him before they had finished. Once again early to take their son home.

“That’s okay,” Chanyeol reassured him, “there are plenty of other things we can draw if you’d like.”

His son nodded but something caught his attention and he craned his head to look out of the kitchen door and into the hallway, following the sound of bare feet pattering on the hardwood floor. 

“Has Kyungsoo gone?” Baekhyun yawned as he entered the kitchen, still in Chanyeol’s old hoodie, his legs completely bare apart from a tattoo, a branch of flowers, spiralling up his calf. 

He was rubbing his tired eyes so he didn’t see Minsoo sitting at the counter, eyeing him curiously as Baekhyun slouched down at the island. When he saw the small boy sitting there, he nearly fell off his stool. 

“AH! Minsoo! Hi! What are you doing here!?” He cried, obviously having the shock of his life but trying not to show it but still trying to ask Chanyeol a thousand questions with just his eyes. Chanyeol buried his hands in his face in despair. 

“I’m here to see daddy,” Minsoo said as though it was obvious. Which it sort of was but at the same time, Minsoo wasn’t aware of the intricacies of legal custody agreements. “What are you doing here Baekhyun?”   
  


It wasn’t as though Baekhyun and Minsoo were complete strangers. Given that Baekhyun actually lived in the same house as Minsoo’s dad, it was impossible to keep them apart forever but usually, Baekhyun just kept out of the way. As far as Minsoo was concerned, Baekhyun was Chanyeol’s friend who sometimes had sleepovers. Sure, that explanation would wear thin as Minsoo got older but Chanyeol was a desperate man. What other choice did he have?

“Errrrrr…” Baekhyun looked to Chanyeol for help, randomly reaching across the island to turn over a letter addressed to himself, as though Minsoo would pick up on it. Baekhyun was a bit lost in the kid department. “Why am I here, Chanyeol?”

“Baekhyun came for a sleepover,” Chanyeol explained, lamenting the fact that it was always him trying to drag everyone out of the shit. He would get mad about it later on but he had bigger fish to fry, “we didn’t realise you were coming today, little man.”

At least one thing Chanyeol had said to his child that morning would be true. He could finally go down in the history books as being a slightly less shit dad for that.

“Why couldn’t I come for a sleepover too? I like sleepovers with Baekhyun! He’s fun…” Minsoo looked genuinely disappointed that he had been left out. On about two occasions he had slept over when Baekhyun wasn’t working the night shift and had really taken to the older man. Another thing that Hyerin would kill Chanyeol for if she knew.

“Erm…” Baekhyun racked his brain for a response but Chanyeol wasn’t about to give him the chance to make the situation even worse. 

“Minsoo!” He clapped his hands to cover up whatever Baekhyun was bumbling on about, “I promised pancakes! Put your shoes on and wait for me by the door and we’ll go and buy some.”   
  


“But-”

“No buts! Off you go,” he lifted his son down from the island and guided him out of the door, making sure to close it behind him. 

“Erm...what the hell?! She can’t just bring him round like that, Chanyeol! It isn’t fair on you or on Minsoo! Now I’m in the way and Hyerin is going fucking kill me in my sleep- Oh God…”

Chanyeol made his way over to Baekhyun and placed two grounding hands on each of his boyfriend’s shoulders, attempting to calm him down. With a sigh, Baekhyun looked up to Chanyeol, breaking the distance between them so that they could share a quick, private kiss before they had to go and spend the day with a blabbermouth child; as cute as Minsoo was, he was a tattletale. 

“It’ll be fine,” Chanyeol promised, hoping the waver in his voice didn’t betray his real feelings, “you just wait here, okay?”

When Chanyeol was 15, he met a young girl called Hyerin. She was unlike all of the other girls he knew and definitely different from all of the boys he knew. For the first time in his short life, Chanyeol had met another person who shared his passion for the same things in the same ways. 

They bonded over music and their love for obscure 80s disco, something Chanyeol’s other friends showed no interest in. Hyerin would visit Chanyeol’s house multiple times each week and they would dig through the boxes of records and tapes belonging to Chanyeol’s dad, chatting away endlessly about the intricacies of each song, singing together at the top of their lungs until they were either told to be quiet or until Hyerin got so tired that she passed out on the bedroom floor.

They shared each other’s love for art and Chanyeol would dedicate hours upon hours drawing detailed sketches of his best friend, making sure to capture the way her eyes creased slightly unevenly when she smiled, the light that resided behind her eyes and not just the light that shone outwards. It was plain to see from the affection running through Chanyeol's art that he was immensely fond of Hyerin. 

Of course, he was. She was his other half. No one else connected with him in quite the same way because no one else saw the world in the same way he did. No one else saw the world for its art or music, nor for the small details that Chanyeol could spend hours describing to the most important girl in his world.

So it probably shouldn't have been a surprise when Hyerin told him that she felt the same way and more. When they were both 17, Hyerin suggested that they start dating. To Chanyeol, nothing made more sense than dating his best friend. He had never been captivated by another girl in quite the same way and judging by his friend's girlfriends and the other girls at his school, he never would meet a girl quite like Hyerin ever again.

So he said yes. Nothing changed much between them; they still spent their time together exploring, slowly discovering the hidden gems of the universe together. They grew together, they grew into themselves with each other. Chanyeol read books because Hyerin told him they would change his life and she listened to songs that Chanyeol had written for her, the lyrics telling stories of two young people who had grown up so close together that their souls were entwined. 

Chanyeol was convinced that they were soulmates. So was everyone else. Chanyeol and Hyerin were attached at the hip, one rarely spotted away from the other. 

One day, Chanyeol's mother had asked him whether he was in love with Hyerin. There was no doubt in his mind that he was. How could he not be? They were practically the same person. 

The only logical thing to do as far as Chanyeol could see was to marry her. He loved her, she loved him, he had never had eyes for a single other woman and could not see that happening for as long as he lived. So when he was 25, he gave life to the new Mrs Park wholeheartedly believing his words when he promised to stay by her in sickness and in health.

But life is full of surprises and there was one surprise hidden below Chanyeol's surface that he had been too foolish to notice. 

When Chanyeol was 26, he had met a young man named Jongin. Jongin was a few years younger than Chanyeol and they had met at a bar where Jongin was singing with his band one weekend. Like Hyerin, Chanyeol had a lot in common with Jongin; they both loved music more than the average person but Jongin was definitely cooler than Chanyeol in that respect with his passion for classic rock. Chanyeol admired Jongin.

The more Chanyeol got to know Jongin, the more entranced he was by him. No matter how long they spoke for, Chanyeol could hang onto Jongin’s every word, just as he had with Hyerin. But there was something different about Jongin. While Hyerin had taken over Chanyeol’s mind, leading him to believe that she was the most captivating human being on earth, she had never migrated to his heart.

Jongin was more than that, however. Not only did he consume Chanyeol’s mind, his complex ideas about the ways in which music reflects and heals the most terrible states of ennui running over as Chanyeol tried to wrap his head around such genius, but Jongin also consumed his heart.

It was strange at first, to feel his mind opening up. Sure, Chanyeol had noticed the minutia in Hyerin like the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled or the ways in which her face changed as she grew older but none of this had affected him deeply. 

When Jongin laughed, his mouth widening so much that Chanyeol could see all of his pearly white teeth, Chanyeol found it impossible to look away. Not only did he want to capture the beauty of the other man with his pencil and his skilled hand, but he also wanted to consume it, take the beauty and store it within him to trap the warm glow that Jongin fostered within him. 

Chanyeol understood then. He loved Hyerin to the moon and back. They were soulmates and they were perfect for each other. But his love for Jongin was different. This love ran just as deep but it seeped into other avenues, twisting itself around his heart and lighting it on fire. His love for Jongin took over his whole body until Hyerin became an afterthought. The way she made Chanyeol feel wasn’t nearly as addictive or intoxicating. With Hyerin, he didn’t feel the need to come back for more. 

“You don’t have to be honest with me,” Jongin spoke so quietly that even the birds couldn’t hear them as they lay together in an empty field late one night, aching to touch each other but knowing it was wrong, “but you have to be honest with you.”

Honesty was a luxury Chanyeol did not have, however, because one week before his 27th birthday, Chanyeol found out that Hyerin was pregnant with their first child. So he forgot about Jongin for good. He loved Hyerin enough to stay with her. 

Except he didn’t and 2 long, arduous years was all it took for their marriage and their friendship to break down. 

This all spun through his mind at immeasurable speed, each thought barely pausing for long enough for Chanyeol to push them down, as they hung about in traffic on the way to the supermarket. 

Obviously sensing that his father was on edge, Minsoo turned to face Chanyeol curiously, his small mind working through what it could understand before he asked a question that made Chanyeol want to cry. 

“Do you love my mommy?” he asked, innocent and unaware of the gravity of such a question. 

Gripping tightly to the steering wheel, Chanyeol forced a smile, “of course I do! I have always loved your mom.”

This wasn’t a lie, either. Just because Chanyeol discovered that his heart was more drawn to men like Jongin - admittedly quite late - did not mean that his love for Hyerin wavered at all or that it never existed. He simply couldn’t cope in a sham marriage and she resented him for never giving her a reason why. 

“Okay but…” MInsoo’s eyebrows furrowed tightly and he pouted his lips in the way Chanyeol was prone to. He looked so much like Chanyeol sitting there with his big ears and his wide eyes. Minsoo was Chanyeol’s son in so many ways and his speculative, overactive mind was one of them. “My friend Sungsoo says his mommy and daddy live in the same house but you don’t live with anyone. Do you not love anyone, daddy?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat, very grateful that they had finally arrived at the supermarket and that he could distract Minsoo with aisles of cake and sugar instead. Maybe he would even buy him a toy to keep him quiet. Not great parenting but it would work wonders for Chanyeol’s blood pressure. If he could go back to 5 seconds ago, he would have just said he didn’t love Hyerin and save himself the stress. He knew she would have said no, anyway.

“Of course I do!” Chanyeol removed the key from the ignition and climbed out of the driver's door - but not before giving his son a sloppy kiss on the temple. “I love you!” 

Just as Chanyeol had hoped, as soon as they stepped inside the shop, Minsoo became hypnotised by the piles of stuff he could ask his dad for, far too occupied with trying out his tactics of persuasion than asking painfully awkward questions.

It didn’t last, however, because as soon as he had gobbled up the bag of crisps that Chanyeol had nabbed on the way out the door, he was back at it with the questions. 

“Do you love Baekhyun?” 

Had Chanyeol’s mother heard the stream of profanities entering into Chanyeol’s mind, she would have clipped him around the ear.

“Er...what makes you think that?”

Minsoo hummed and then shrugged his tiny shoulders, “dunno. Cause he always comes for sleepovers. Sometimes more than me so I thought you might love him the same as me…”

Chanyeol tried to move mountains in his brain to conjure up an answer to what seemed like a reasonable question. He did love Baekhyun, very nearly the same amount as Minsoo, but certainly not in the same way. Thankfully, he wasn’t given a chance to answer. 

Well, he was sort of thankful. What Minsoo said next nearly made him crash the car. 

“Mommy says I’m not allowed to talk to Baekhyun anymore,” he said as though it was the most normal thing ever. No qualms about her instructions, not bothered about informing Chanyeol when he maybe wasn’t driving a massive 4 by 4.

“Why on earth would she...How does she know about Baekhyun?” Chanyeol had so many concerns that he didn’t know which one to rush out of his mouth first.

“I told her that we have sleepovers...am I in trouble?”

Chanyeol whipped his head to look at his son, his heart sinking when he saw Minsoo’s scared eyes. That was the face of a child who had been used as a wager between his childish parents for far too long. 

“Of course you aren’t in trouble. I know me and your mom fight sometimes but it’s never your fault. I pr-”

“What’s gay?”

The car stuttered to a stop as Chanyeol accidentally caught his foot on the break. He tried to restart the engine but kept stalling in his panic, swearing under his breath much to the small boy’s horror. Why the hell was he asking that? Did Hyerin already know? No, there was no way! She didn’t have any contact with any of Chanyeol’s friends so they wouldn’t have told her, Minsoo had no idea and Chanyeol had never given her any inkling. So why on earth was Minsoo asking that of all things?

With much effort, Chanyeol composed himself and focused all of his attention on driving them home safely, keeping his lips tightly pursed, hoping that Minsoo would forget he even asked anything. Maybe he was being a coward but he was reluctant to jump the gun before knowing the whole story. 

He got about 50 yards away from home before Minsoo carried on speaking. 

“I heard mommy and other daddy-” Chanyeol seethed at that but let his son continue “-saying when I was supposed to be in bed about gay people. I don’t know what it means but they said that Baekhyun is a gay too. Mommy saw it on Facebook. It sounded bad.”

“Jesus Christ!” Chanyeol couldn’t believe what he was hearing...or seeing.

“Why is it really bad? But…” Then Minsoo lifted his head and his gaze followed Chanyeol’s own to spot the small green car parked haphazardly on Chanyeol’s drive…"Mommy!”

Except it wasn’t only Chanyeol’s drive because he lived with his boyfriend, a renowned ‘gay’ apparently, who was very much still in the house, waiting for Chanyeol to make good on his promise of a decent breakfast. 

“Fucking bollocks! Shit, shit, shit-” 

Minsoo was already running up to the house but Chanyeol’s hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t even turn off the engine. What in God’s name was Hyerin doing? She hadn’t even been gone the best part of an hour yet here she was! Back again, in Chanyeol’s house with Chanyeol’s boyfriend. 

By the time Chanyeol was in the house and kicking his shoes off, he could barely breathe, straining to hear the voices in the living room.

“Oh hi, Chanyeol!” Hyerin greeted, strangely cheerful, “you’re back.”

Chanyeol met eyes with Baekhyun who was sitting curled up in an armchair, hiding his hands in the sleeves of Chanyeol’s hoodie to stop himself from anxiously biting his thumb which was a habit of his. He looked terrified which made sense. As far as Hyerin was concerned, he shouldn’t have been there. 

“I...Yeah,” Chanyeol started, still looking at Baekhyun to try and decipher the worried look in his eyes. Had she said anything to him? “W-what are you doing here?”

“Have you come for breakfast, mommy!?” Minsoo couldn’t have sounded more excited if he’d tried, jumping onto his mom’s lap, bouncing up and down with sparkling eyes.

She chuckled, her eyes full of adoration for her little boy, smothering him with kisses in the way that Chanyeol always loved to. As many faults as Chanyeol had found in Hyerin since the split, he couldn’t fault her as a mother. 

“I came to drop off your pyjamas,” she turned to Chanyeol with spite in her smile, “turns out I’m busy tonight. But I can do breakfast.”

Chanyeol couldn’t hide the hatred in his face. It was funny, he thought, how love and hate could reside within a person simultaneously and in equal measure. Something else that Hyerin had taught him. 

Either way, Minsoo didn’t notice the tension shifting in the room and instead told his mom that he would make her a cup of tea, so delighted to have his favourite people in the same room together for the first time in years. 

“You can’t do this,” Chanyeol spat but Hyerin didn’t waver. 

“Well, I did hesitate,” she said with disinterest, “to be honest, when I came this morning, I assumed you had a fancy woman round but no,” she turned to Baekhyun and looked him up and down with disgust, “just your friend.”

Chanyeol didn’t know whether to cry with relief - she didn’t know! - or whether to smack her. Something else Hyerin had taught him; even the nicest of people have their prejudices and she had seemingly taken an instant dislike to Baekhyun. Chanyeol hated that he already knew why.

“What? Fancy woman?” Baekhyun asked, looking a little bit like he might pounce on Hyerin and rip her eyes out, “you are so f-”

“Haha!” Chanyeol laughed hysterically, cutting his boyfriend off before he could say something they would all regret, “funny! What do you mean, Hyerin? Don’t be ridiculous…”

She stood up then, slinking over to him with an almighty smug grin and poked a manicured finger on the red spot under his ear. 

“You forget that we made a baby together, Park Chanyeol,” she said flirtatiously, making Chanyeol’s skin crawl and not in a good way, “I know all of your secrets.”   
  


Chanyeol couldn’t help but scoff at the irony. 

Her comments didn’t amuse Baekhyun in any way, however. If anything, he seemed genuinely upset. Clearly trying to hold back tears, he stood up (pulling the hoodie awkwardly to cover his thighs) before turning to Chanyeol and snapping at him. 

“I think I’m going to go home,” he said with a straight face but with furious eyes, “have a nice breakfast.” 

“Baek-”

Baekhyun didn’t wait to hear what Chanyeol had to say, instead heading straight up the stairs and storming into their shared room. All Chanyeol wanted was to run after him and ask him where on earth he was going to go. But he couldn’t. Why would he stop his friend from going home? That’s what Hyerin would think. So he was left to laugh along as Hyerin teased him for sleeping with some non-existent mystery woman when all he wanted was to hold his boyfriend and tell him he was sorry. 

“He is a weird one,” Hyerin whispered, “I’ve heard things, you know…”

Chanyeol didn’t even make an effort to appear interested. He turned on his heel and headed into the kitchen to prepare a meal for three, trying not to focus too much on the thought that it was for the wrong three. The ideal three, sure, but the wrong three. He tried not to flinch when Baekhyun slammed the door closed behind him. 

Breakfast was painful. Chanyeol spent the entire hour on tenterhooks, petrified that Hyerin would look in the wrong cupboard or walk into the wrong room and discover Chanyeol’s secret. He hated that he had to hide in shame because he wasn’t ashamed. Not anymore. The naive man who had lain with Jongin without touching him was long gone but Chanyeol was scared. He was terrified that someone would be able to use his pride against him.

The second Hyerin was out of the door, leaving a disappointed Minsoo behind her, Chanyeol was putting on his and his son’s shoes, ready to go and find Baekhyun. 

“Why are we going to find him?” Minsoo asked, grabbing his rucksack containing his pens and paper, always liking to draw in the car, capturing interesting sights as his dad drove. Something he had picked up from his mother. “He only went home.”

Burying his head in his hands, Chanyeol waited for the distinct throbbing in his head to stop. All he wanted was the freedom to explain to his son what was going on and to put his mind at ease but his ex-wife would not allow him the privilege. It was utterly maddening and he didn’t know for how long he could put up with it. 

He placed his hands on Minsoo’s shoulders, studying his curious eyes before making a promise he hoped he could keep. 

“I will tell you one day. Soon. Just...give daddy some time, okay?” 

The amazing thing about children is how easily they can adjust, how elastic they are. Instead of being troubled by Chanyeol’s words and ruminating over the knowledge that there were secrets between father and son, he just nodded. Minsoo trusted his dad and Chanyeol wasn’t about to lose his trust easily. 

For all of Baekhyun’s dramatics and Oscar-winning performance in front of Hyeri earlier in the day, he hardly made himself untraceable. When it came to Baekhyun disappearing, which he often did in the early days of their relationship when the young man’s communication skills left much to be desired, he only ever went to one of two places. 

The first was his mother’s house. She didn’t live very far away from Baekhyun’s work so it was easy for him to sulk there for a few days if he felt the need to make Chanyeol pine after him. After the fifth time he pulled that trick, his mother forbade him from doing it again. She claimed it was childish, counterproductive, and that she didn’t have the means to feed Baekhyun for one week out of the year simply because he was stroppy and immature.

So there was only one other option.

“Where are we?” Minsoo asked, looking around the underground car park as Chanyeol pulled into one of the parent and child spaces. 

“We’re at uncle Sehun’s house to fetch Baekhyun,” whether he liked it or not, Chanyeol thought to himself, “so you need to be on your best behaviour.”

Sehun was the missing link between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. As Baekhyun’s work colleague and Chanyeol’s old school friend, it was Sehun who had introduced the pair, something he liked to brag about ceaselessly, and now he held the title of chief mediator when they had petty fights. Usually started by Baekhyun and finished by Chanyeol.

The trouble was, Sehun was not a massive fan of children and had a very pristine house with mostly white furniture. So whenever Minsoo visited, Sehun tended to fuss around him and fret about how much noise he was making and whether he was messing up the pillows. 

Even upon opening the door, Sehun seemed a little shocked to see Minsoo, already inviting him to take his shoes off and put slippers over his socks in case they weren’t quite clean enough. 

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s antics, patiently waiting for Sehun to chill out and say hello. 

“He is here I presume,” Chanyeol didn’t need to ask, really, already kicking off his shoes and replacing them with Sehun’s house slippers, “where is he?”

“In the front room,” Sehun replied as he picked up a small handheld vacuum, already sucking up the dust that Minsoo had brought in on his tiny shoes, “he’s sulking. You know, I’m getting real tired of this.”

“Yeah, well, this time he is justified in being a bit pissed,” Chanyeol scratched behind his ear awkwardly, “so I kind of came to apologise.”

Sehun could have at least tried to hide his surprise, Chanyeol thought bitterly, but he blinked in shock before pushing Chayeol through to the kitchen, happily leaving Baekhyun alone with Minsoo in the name of getting all the gossip, “come on! We’re making tea!” 

The story wasn’t that difficult to tell: Hyerin had pulled a fast one on Chanyeol, she had met Baekhyun but had no idea who he was. Baekhyun took it all a bit too personally and ran off before Chanyeol could do anything about the situation. In Chanyeol’s defence, there was very little that he was capable of doing given the circumstances but that didn’t make him feel much better.

“You’re going to have to tell her,” Sehun said, stating the obvious as though it was that simple to just crush his ex-wife’s heart, admit he never loved her the way she thought he did and run the risk of having his son taken away from him out of spite. “What can she do, really? What you’re doing isn’t illegal. You’re only gay, Chanyeol, you’ve hardly killed a guy.”

Coming out of Sehun’s mouth in his usual blunt manner would have convinced anyone that it really was that easy but there were ways around what was ‘right’ and what made sense when it came to Hyerin. Just as she had broken the rules that morning, she could keep breaking them and grind Chanyeol to a pulp, all by holding the man he loved against him, using his love for his son as a weapon. 

“And failing that,” Sehun proceeded in his not-so-helpful advice, stirring the cups of tea one by one, “you could always just talk to your boyfriend. You know, like an adult. Because I tell you this for nothing: I am NOT putting up with him complaining on a 12-hour shift tomorrow because I might have to kill him.”

He had a point, “but what about Minsoo? He can't be here while we talk...”

The other man seemed to think for a moment, walking over to the cupboard to grab a box of biscuits which he opened up in front of Chanyeol. Chanyeol ate two chocolate fingers in quick succession, suddenly starving after he neglected his breakfast in favour of subtly glaring at his sanctimonious ex.

“He can come with me,” Sehun suggested out of nowhere, which led Chanyeol to wonder whether his friend had taken ill. He hated kids usually, finding them far too confusing and difficult to talk to, “I’m going to erm...my boyfriend’s house...he can come with me to see him.”

“Sorry, your what?” He’d kept that quiet and Chanyeol was a little offended that his son would meet this mystery man before Chanyeol had the privilege. 

“Look,” Sehun’s face twisted up in embarrassment, his face blushing adorably, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to get weird. But, hey! Maybe exposure to more gays will acclimatise Minsoo so he doesn’t freak out about Baekhyun!” he looked very proud of himself and even mumbled, “I’m a genius…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Chanyeol dismissed him with a wave of his hand, “tell me more about the boy! Please?”

“Nope!” Sehun was already heading out of the kitchen and heading to the living room to fetch Minsoo, “you can ask the kid later. You have bigger fish to fry.”

The exact scale of said fish did not become totally clear until Chanyeol and Baekhyun were left alone in the house and it was time for them to actually talk to each other.

Just as Sehun had informed Chanyeol, Baekhyun was sitting in the living room, still in Chanyeol’s hoodie but now wearing a pair of jogging bottoms as well, sulking. He didn’t look particularly angry or sad. Typical of Baekhyun; he was probably just making a statement. Chanyeol hated Baekhyun’s statements; they always made his blood pressure shoot up. 

“Hi,” he simply greeted, lifting Baekhyun’s legs off the sofa and dropping them into Chanyeol’s lap so that the older man could sit down, “still mad at me?”

Baekhyun tutted and turned to face Chanyeol before replying, “I’m not mad at you at all, Yeol. I am just pissed off at this entire situation. It’s been going on too fucking long and,” he paused for thought, holding onto Chanyeol’s much larger hand and resting it on his lap, closely inspecting each finger. “I really thought she had worked out who I am...and I was scared. I felt like I was intruding on family time so I came here.”

Those words really stung. Out of everyone in the world, Baekhyun was certainly Chanyeol’s family. There was no one else in the world he would have wanted at that table, with the two other people who had made Chanyeol into the man he was. But circumstance was working against them and as per usual, it was Baekhyun who was booted out of the door. 

“You are my family,” Chanyeol insisted, his finger tracing the tattoo on Baekhyun’s leg, a tattoo designed by Chanyeol himself. He chose flowers because he didn’t think anything else could properly symbolise how wonderful Baekhyun was. “And I will fix this...I’m not sure how yet but I will. We won’t be stuck like this forever.”

It would be wrong to say that Baekhyun didn’t look doubtful but the shimmer in his eyes, the hope residing behind a film of worry, was clear to see. To show his appreciation, Baekhyun leaned across to turn Chanyeol’s head and meet his lips for a short kiss. Words were futile - they both knew how complicated the situation was so promises would be risky - but Baekhyun could tell by the sincerity in Chanyeol’s voice that he really meant it. So Baekhyun showed his thanks by connecting with his boyfriend in the most intimate way he knew how. Well, one way.

“By the way,” Baekhyun’s usual teasing tone had made its return as he shuffled into Chanyeol’s lap, straddling him with his hands resting on the back of his boyfriend’s neck, “who is this fancy woman and is she better in bed than me?”

Chanyeol snorted, “you’re ridiculous...but that fancy woman saved my ass! We should really thank her.”

Baekhyun hummed, his eyes shifting awkwardly to the side before coming back to meet Chanyeol’s. Then something shifted. 

“I may have done something crazy…”

“Go on…”

“Well,” Baekhyun jumped off Chanyeol’s lap and paced up and down the room, all jittery, “I’m a little bit...crazy sometimes-”

“Yeah. Skip to the part I don’t know,” Chanyeol teased, poking out his tongue only to get a middle finger in return.

“Whatever, dickhead! So when I was on the way here, I had a bit of a crazy moment and thought...well I was a bit jealous that you were with…her and not me so I wanted to do something to impress you...just...wait there!”

So, Chanyeol did, preparing himself for something ridiculous, having been through this situation multiple times. Baekhyun was a loose cannon but at least he kept Chanyeol on his toes. 

When Baekhyun returned from the bathroom, what Chanyeol saw made him choke on his own spit.

“Holy fuck,” cough, “Wh-where did you get that?!” 

Suddenly self-conscious, Baekhyun wrapped his arms around his body, hiding himself. 

Out of nowhere, he had managed to produce a complete set of stockings, a garter belt, lace black underwear and a lace choker which he had tied in a bow around his neck. He looked so sexy that Chanyeol could hardly remember how to form words. Baekhyun looked ravishing and Chanyeol wanted to devour him right then and there but he was so shocked, so turned on that he could hardly move. 

“Do you hate it?” Baekhyun had never sounded or looked so small in all the years that Chanyeol had known him. “I’ve had them for a while but I wanted to make sure you still thought I was the sexiest person living. Maybe I made a mistake…”   
  


“Oh hell no,” Chanyeol immediately stood up and took two big strides over to his boyfriend. He ran his calloused hands over Baekhyun’s chest then crouched down to run his hands up Baekhyun’s stocking-clad legs. He wanted to worship him, to take in every inch of him, “you look so fucking sexy. Holy hell I want you to fuck me right now. You’re so beautiful, Baek. The most beautiful person I have ever seen but,” Chanyeol clasped onto Baekhyun’s hands, “you don’t need to do this for me to find you beautiful. You’re always beautiful to me.”

His boyfriend’s face lit up and he smiled so brightly, “I know. I wasn’t thinking straight but hey,” he did a twirl and revealed that the underwear was actually a thong, causing Chanyeol to gulp, “we can’t let this go to waste…”

“Erm…” Chanyeol would be a fool to turn down the opportunity to have Baekhyun fuck him senseless while looking like some kind of angel from above but there was one small problem, “I’m not fucking you in Sehun’s house. He will definitely notice...you know what he’s like.”

This didn’t seem to trouble Baekhyun who was already pulling his clothes back on. He grabbed Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him towards the door, “lucky your car has tinted windows then!”

“Wait-”

Baekhyun turned around and pulled Chanyeol forwards by the t-shirt, crashing their lips together, “I’m just sorry I left the handcuffs at home.”

Chanyeol immediately went light-headed, allowing himself to be dragged outside. 

  
  
  


***

Someone who wasn’t having as much fun was Sehun. When he had offered to babysit, he hadn’t quite anticipated how many questions children asked, especially about Sehun’s personal business. 

“Sehun,” Minsoo said with complete seriousness, “do you know what a gay is?”

They had been together for the better part of two hours and Sehun had most definitely had his fill of uncle duties for the day. At first, Minsoo was awfully quiet, preoccupied with his drawing. Then when they had arrived at Sehun’s boyfriend’s house, said boyfriend - Junmyeon, a doctor from the same hospital where Sehun worked - had kept Minsoo occupied by telling him about his fascination with space exploration. 

As soon as they got back in the car, however, Sehun wished he could ask the 6-year-old to walk home.

“A gay? You shouldn’t call them that, for a start. You mean, ‘Uncle Sehun, what does gay mean?’ to which I would reply,” he turned to the kid with a weird look, “why?”

“My mommy says Baekhyun is a gay but I don’t know what that means.”   
  


“Huh,” Sehun was almost impressed by her sleuthing skills, “well, you should never really ask someone if they’re gay so I can neither confirm nor deny-”   
  


Minsoo only knew what half of that sentence meant on account of the fact that he was 6 but he nodded along anyway.

“But I can tell you that I am gay,” Sehun disclosed, assuming that wouldn’t get him in trouble with his uptight friends who had better have been making it up to each other because Sehun couldn’t entertain the small human any more, “which means I have a boyfriend and not a girlfriend.”

Minsoo nodded and thought about Sehun’s words, a pensive look on his face which was freakishly like his dads. Creepy. Then he spoke again, causing Sehun even more stress. 

“Why is that wrong? Mommy said I shouldn’t talk to Baekhyun.”

“First of all, as I already alluded to, you shouldn’t assume someone’s sexuality,” Sehun was exasperated by the whole situation, “secondly, there isn’t anything wrong with being gay. Your mommy is just a bigot.”   
  


“My mommy is a what?”

Shit. Sehun never did have a filter, especially when it came to the truth. “Er...your mommy is a very lovely woman,” he internally patted himself on the back, “oh look! We’re home!” 

Relieved that he could finally escape the confined space, Sehun let out the breath he had been holding and pulled into an empty parking space next to Chanyeol’s car. What he saw confused him slightly.

“Why are daddy and Baekhyun sitting in the car?” Minsoo asked but didn’t wait for an answer, already out of the door and knocking on the window.

Chanyeol rolled down the glass and ruffled his son’s hair, looking very pleased with himself. 

“Disgusting.” Sehun knew exactly what they had been up to and thanked his lucky stars that they were finished. At least they didn’t do it on Sehun’s clean sofa. 

Upon approaching the car, Sehun could clearly see Baekhyun’s ruffled hair and swollen lips. He could also smell the remnants of cigarette smoke which could have been from either man, to be honest. They really had indulged. At least they weren’t fighting anymore.

“Having fun?” He asked, really not wanting an answer.

“Daddy, daddy,” Minsoo strained to stand on his tiptoes so that he could hang in the window, “Sehun said being a gay isn’t bad so does that mean Baekhyun is a gay, after all?”

From where Minsoo couldn’t see, Sehun offered Chanyeol an apologetic smile before waving goodbye and heading up to his apartment. He had definitely had enough of this conversation, nor was he interested in hearing Chanyeol’s response. 

Hours later, when Baekhyun and Chanyeol were lying together in bed, holding each other close under the covers, Chanyeol reiterated his words once more.

He would tell Minsoo the truth. And soon. 

*** 

For Baekhyun, waking up on one of his days off, content in the knowledge that he had absolutely nowhere to go, was almost as good as sex. He was free to do whatever he wanted; he could stay in bed, he could go for a run, he could hang out with his friends. Or he could have sex with his boyfriend which, as far as Baekhyun was concerned, was the absolute best thing imaginable. 

Ever since Baekhyun had taken a gamble, albeit a ridiculous gamble given his motive was ‘make your gay boyfriend love you more than his ex-wife who is a woman’, their sex life had been catapulted to great places. 

Whenever they had the opportunity, they were at it like rabbits; in bed, in the shower, in the living room, one time in the kitchen until they came down from their high and realised how gross that was. There had been days when neither of them was working that had been spent exploring each other’s bodies from dawn till dusk, not a single second wasted by putting on clothes or leaving the house. Just sex. Baekhyun didn’t think he’d ever been so happy. 

So the first Tuesday afternoon that Baekhyun and Chanyeol were at home together in months was no exception. As soon as Baekhyun had stepped through the door and washed the clingy stench of hospitals from his body, they were on the living room floor, fucking. Rather noisily as well, much to the dismay of their elderly neighbours. 

“Should I ride you this time?” Chanyeol asked, struggling to get his words out given that Baekhyun was swallowing around his dick, “we haven’t tried that yet.”

Baekhyun looked up at him from his position on the floor in utter disbelief, his eyelashes dotted with tears from the strain around his mouth. With contempt, he popped his mouth off of Chanyeol’s cock and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“You couldn’t have asked me that before?” Baekhyun loved his boyfriend but his timing was way off, “and no, not really...you will squash me…”

This answer seemed to genuinely hurt Chanyeol’s feelings which prompted Baekhyun to sympathetically pat his thigh, as well as sympathetically licking a stripe up his length. 

“I have a better idea,” Baekhyun said mysteriously before he headed into the bedroom. 

While initially reluctant to experiment in their sex life, especially when Chanyeol usually just preferred to lie flat on his back and let Baekhyun take charge, Baekhyun was so glad he took a gamble. Surprisingly, Chanyeol had taken very well to every suggestion Baekhyun had made, increasingly receptive to more adventurous suggestions and Baekhyun was excited to see how far he could push him. 

Chanyeol particularly liked to be guided into submission which elated Baekhyun most of all.

“What’s that?” Chanyeol looked curiously at the item in Baekhyun’s hands, already lying on his back on the ornate rug resting between the sofa and the TV. “Are you tying my hands up again? I don’t mind but I had an itch last time...so…”

Sexy. 

“No, well,” he lifted up the piece of black material and snapped it taught, “it’s the same thing but I thought we could maybe...put it in your mouth? If you want…”

His boyfriend pretended to think about it for a second but his pupils were growing in size at an alarming rate. Of course he wanted to! Baekhyun only asked out of courtesy. So without hesitating, Baekhyun sat on the floor next to his boyfriend’s naked, sprawled out body and lifted his head, carefully so that he could tie the fabric in his mouth. He pulled it a little tight so that it wouldn’t accidentally slip off and then sat back to admire Chanyeol, looking so sexy like that, fully submitting to him without question. 

“Fuck, you look gorgeous,” Baekhyun said in complete awe, stroking Chanyeol’s bottom lip which was forced to hang open, feeling so lucky that Chanyeol was his. 

Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered, his eyelashes strikingly long and brushing against his flushed cheeks. Baekhyun hardly knew what to do with himself, he wanted to kiss him all over but first he had to make sure Chanyeol was comfortable. He plucked two cushions from the sofa, placing one under Chanyeol’s hips and one under his head. Last time Chanyeol woke up in the morning with a crick in his neck and complained about it for 3 days straight. 

The older man hummed in thanks, the sound muffled by the fabric in his mouth; the thought of that alone made Baekhyun’s dick throb and caused his mouth to water superfluously. He ached to hear Chanyeol make more noises like that. 

Without waiting any longer, Baekhyun reached for the bottle of lube (which was very nearly empty after the week they’d had) and squirted way too much onto his fingers, which allowed very easy access when he pushed his two middle fingers into Chanyeol’s hole at once. His boyfriend was ever so accommodating. 

“Unnh, obob umm argh,” Chanyeol made a string of indiscernible noises, his hips lifting up off the floor to force Baekhyun’s fingers further inside of him, so desperate for Baekhyun to pleasure him. 

Baekhyun thought it was cute so he told his boyfriend as such, “there’s no point trying to speak, baby. You’re not allowed to.” With that, he scissored his fingers, making sure Chanyeol was fully stretched for him, drawing an obscene, guttural noise from the older man’s chest, “good boy. Sing for me. Show me how much you love me inside of you.”

Growing impatient, yearning for his own pleasure, Baekhyun released his fingers and moved in between Chanyeol’s legs, lifting one over his shoulder (which was a challenge considering Chanyeol was so much taller and bigger than Baekhyun) and pumped his own dick so that he could enter his boyfriend. 

He thrust into Chanyeol hard and fast, not wasting any time taking things slowly, so Chanyeol was very quickly writhing and whining beneath him, begging for Baekhyun to gain even more speed by pulling his smaller boyfriend’s hips closer to him, but it wasn’t possible. Baekhyun couldn’t go faster so Chanyeol was left to whine, tear tracks forming on his cheeks as he was fucked towards the most strangled, tight orgasm possible, screaming into his makeshift gag as his body drew as much pleasure out of him as it could. 

Baekhyun wasn’t far behind him, pounding into Chanyeol’s prostate until the sensitivity became too unbearable and his boyfriend had to push him away. Chanyeol’s body couldn’t physically push him over the edge so soon so he was left to tremble, his nerves still aggressively firing from his climax.

He was close. So, so, close. Precum already dripping onto his aching hands as he jerked himself off as quickly as he could. Then he was gone, falling onto Chanyeol as his muscles gave out. In his aroused daze, he took his teeth and pulled Chanyeol’s head off the pillow by the gag and stared into his boyfriend’s eyes, utterly infatuated by him, thoroughly submissive and totally blissed out.

Baekhyun laughed slyly through his teeth before letting Chanyeol drop back down to the pillow. 

“I’m not done with you y-”

The phone started to ring, cutting Baekhyun off mid-thought. Though Chanyeol looked a little panicked, Baekhyun decided it was fine to leave it. But Chanyeol insisted, garbling nonsense that Baekhyun couldn’t make out. 

“What?” He leaned into Chanyeol trying to decipher his sounds, “hearing? Hating? Bin? OH! Hyerin!?”

Chanyeol nodded, waving his hands around wildly, asking Baekhyun to remove the gag. Of course, Baekhyun wasn’t about to deny him. After all, it could have been an emergency with Minsoo so there was no time to waste. So he pulled Chanyeol and tried to undo the knot.

“Uh oh,” he had tied it way too tight, “erm...Chanyeol…”

Chanyeol glared at him and looked at the phone pointedly, garbling something that sounded awfully like ‘answer it’, much to Baekhyun’s dismay. So with a deep breath, he answered the phone.

“He-”

“Chanyeol,” Hyerin spoke, not giving Baekhyun time to speak, “I’m bringing Minsoo over. It is actually an emergency this time so you can’t say no.”

Baekhyun didn’t say a word, already planning his escape to Sehun’s house. So much for not being finished with Chanyeol yet. Once again, they had been cock-blocked by his supposedly distant ex-wife which was not part of the deal. 

“Chanyeol?! Are you listening to me?! Don’t say I didn’t warn you this time. Since I know you can’t be bothered to check your emails.” 

“I…” Baekhyun eyed Chanyeol, silently asking for his permission to speak, with a look of resignation, Chanyeol nodded and buried his head on his knees, “it’s not Chanyeol. It’s Baekhyun…”

There was a brief pause during which time Baekhyun could only hear Hyerin’s breathing. His heart was beating up into his throat, waiting for her to speak.

“What are you doing there? Again.” Her voice was cold and sent shivers through Baekhyun

“I’m just visiting Chanyeol on my day off. What’s wrong with that?” He tried to sound airy and casual but winced when his words came out all tense.

“Bullshit! You cocky little shit! That’s bullshit and you know it! So I’ll ask you again: WHY are you with him? Again.” 

Baekhyun was really starting to panic, at a loss for words. Was she digging for information because she already knew the truth? Or was it because Chanyeol was spending time with someone else who wasn’t her once again which made her jealous? Honestly, with her and Chanyeol’s track record, anything was possible but the bile was still rising from Baekhyun’s stomach. The fact that he was still completely naked didn’t make him feel less vulnerable. 

“Where is he?” Hyerin’s voice trembled over the speaker, “I need to speak to him.”

One look at Chanyeol showed Baekhyun that his boyfriend wasn’t faring much better. Whether Hyerin suspected them or not, the time at which he had to tell her the truth was racing towards him at increasing speed. Not to mention her curiosity, the secrecy was eating Chanyeol up inside and Baekhyun could see it tearing away at his boyfriend every time he had to lie to his own son. 

“He’s at home...he’s here with me…”

Hyerin went quiet again, an awkward silence stretching out between them, the meaning completely unknown but the pain no less severe. Maybe she didn’t expect Baekhyun to actually admit it, anticipating the usual string of lies and cover-ups.

“O-okay,” she eventually said, “if I come now, do you think he’ll speak to me? If...if you take Minsoo somewhere, will he talk to me? Just once. One last time, even.”

To be honest, Baekhyun could hardly believe that she trusted him enough to care for her son especially when she seemingly hated her guts. But Baekhyun was mature and sensible enough to appreciate that the entire situation was far more complex than him having beef with his boyfriend’s ex. There was a child involved and Baekhyun wanted to be given responsibility for that child one day, even if he was the last resort. 

Having heard her words, Chanyeol closed his eyes in distress before nodding. It was about time he ripped the bandaid off once and for all. The consequences had been a long time coming and if he wasn’t ready for them by then, he never would be. 

In preparation for Hyerin’s arrival, the two men got dressed (but not before Baekhyun had finally undone the knot in the material in Chanyeol’s mouth) and waited anxiously on the sofa. 

Usually, before Hyerin was due to stop by, the couple would do a once over of the house, removing any photos that made look suspicious such as them kissing on New Year's Eve, or selfies of them taken together in bed. As far as it looked on the outside, the house was owned by one man. With perhaps too many shoes. But this time they didn’t bother, all evidence of their relationship proudly on display for Hyerin to see for the first time.

Chanyeol’s palms were sweating as Baekhyun held them tightly in his hands. 

“It’ll be fine, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun reassured his boyfriend just as much as himself, praying to every God and wishing upon every star that he was right, “she’s a bitch but she’s a good mom, she’ll never come between you and Minsoo.”

This Baekhyun did believe. The initial reveal may be painful and there may be rocky days ahead but ultimately, Chanyeol was Minsoo’s dad and he was a good dad. Even Hyerin knew that. The only thing that would change would be the introduction of Baekhyun into the small boy’s life. And what was so bad about having another adult in Minsoo’s life who loved him and cared about him?

The older man smiled, though it was strained and twitching slightly, and placed a kiss on Baekhyun’s soft lips, the closeness of his boyfriend bringing him great comfort. 

“What are you stressed about, then?” Chanyeol bumped his shoulder against Baekhyun’s with a raised eyebrow.

Baekhyun shrugged, “I dunno. I suppose being promoted from ‘dad’s fun friend’ to ‘stepdad’ is a bit...scary, actually,” he bit his thumb nervously as he had a habit of doing, “I really want him to like me.”

“Awww,” Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun roughly on the cheek, his heart bursting at the idea of Baekhyun caring about his son so much, something he had been too stressed to even consider, “he’ll love you! Of course, he will! He probably already does. You are his sleepover pal, after all.”   
  


That afternoon was Baekhyun’s real test for Stepdad of the year.

He didn’t actually see Hyerin as she was still waiting in the car when Baekhyun left the house. Something he was quietly grateful for because he couldn’t trust himself to say the right things so as not to make the situation far worse. 

He did see Minsoo, however, who was standing beside Chanyeol’s car clutching onto his little rucksack, looking a little bit confused as to why he was going out for the afternoon with Baekhyun and not his dad. Baekhyun was just as confused but for very different reasons.

Sure, he had spent time with Minsoo but never without Chanyeol so he had absolutely no idea what to do. What did small boys enjoy? Baekhyun may have been a little boy once, more recently than Chanyeol even, but he wasn’t a little boy like Minsoo. Baekhyun liked playing with dolls and stealing his mom’s makeup while Minsoo liked superheroes and running around in the mud with Chanyeol. Much to Baekhyun’s dismay as he usually wound up washing both of their dirty clothes. 

"Hi, Minsoo," he waved at the boy, trying not to show how stressed he was, "soooo, what do you want to do?" 

"Ice cream." 

Baekhyun happily obliged. Ice cream was the perfect tonic. 

  
  


*** 

Neither Chanyeol or Hyerin said a single word for about 10 minutes, an excruciatingly long stretch of time considering that there were 4 years worth of things left unsaid hanging between them. But where did you start when trying to reconcile with a stranger who used to be the love of your life? How do you break their heart all over again?

To break the tension and give himself something to do with his hands, Chanyeol invited Hyerin into the kitchen, directing her to sit at the island before he handed her a hot cup of tea. Milk and two sugars, the exact way she had always liked it, just one of the many things Chanyeol had always remembered about her. He remembered her favourite foods, her favourite songs, even the way in which she tugged on her fingers when she felt uncomfortable. Of course, he never forgot these things because he never stopped loving her. But he loved her wrong.

“I...have something to tell you,” Chanyeol started, sitting across from Hyerin and nestling a hot mug but refusing to look her in the eyes. He didn’t think he could bear it. 

“No,” she insisted, “me first. Chanyeol, did...did you ever love me?” 

Unable to hide the hurt in his face, Chanyeol swallowed down a lump in his throat. Had he really been so terrible to her that she doubted that he ever even loved her at all? The thought made his heartache. She was his first love. No matter what came later on in their journey, that fact would never change. 

“Of course, I did,” his fingers edged towards her’s, wanting to touch her in some way but Chanyeol drew them into his lap, thinking better of it, “I still do,” she cut him off with a scoff, “It’s true! You were my best friend, Hyerin! You were my special person. I’m only the person I am today because of you. You have to know that!” 

Chanyeol could only watch on with hurt as tears welled in her eyes, she nodded but she didn’t appear to be buying it. 

“But you didn’t love me as a woman? As a wife?”

That was something Chanyeol couldn’t deny. After all, that was the reason they were sitting across from each other with such hurt lying between them in the first place. He loved her. But not like that. 

He shook his head, feeling the weight on his shoulders start to drop off his shoulders as the truth came out. 

“I’m sorry, Hyerin.” 

“Tell me one thing, Chanyeol,” she ignored his apology and continued on with her line of questioning, “did you ever cheat on me? I always thought you were but then I found out you were with that weird band kid so I thought I was losing my mind,” she laughed but it was hollow, tired, “was I losing my mind, Chanyeol?” 

“I can promise you, Hyerin, with everything that I am, that I did not cheat on you. I neglected you and that was fucking awful of me but,” he looked her dead in her eyes, needing her to believe him, “I was never unfaithful.”

She nodded, spending a moment to take it in. Chanyeol was in shock. Had she really been carrying around that belief for all these years? 

“But your heart was, wasn’t it? You loved the weird band boy, didn’t you?” 

There was no use lying about it anymore. He had loved Jongin. Technically Jongin was what led to the breakdown of his marriage. If only he could thank the man for allowing Chanyeol to break free before he broke himself.

“Well, I suppose I did, yeah.”

Hyerin breathed a shaky breath. She didn’t look angry or sad, really. Bizarrely she smiled at him, a soft and understanding smile. 

“That’s all I wanted to hear. I sort of had a feeling you might be, you know, gay when we were younger. You always did have a fondness for Justin Timberlake when we were teenagers.” She giggled at the memory, covering her mouth with her hand in the cute way she often did. 

Chanyeol laughed a wholehearted laugh, surprised that she had remembered something even he had forgotten. 

There was only one thing left to tell her and strangely, Chanyeol wasn’t afraid anymore. 

“Baekhyun is my boyfriend, Hyerin. We live together. We’ve been dating for nearly four years. I promise I met him after you and I split but...He’s here to stay.”

She didn’t look surprised but then again, it wasn’t very hard to connect the dots. “I had kind of wondered. I already knew he was gay and I might have said some...cruel things about him and for that I am so, so sorry. I just...I suppose I was angry. And I was shitty and petty but I couldn’t help myself. Because you will always love him more than me-”   
  


“No! You weren’t the only one who was petty, Hyerin. Arguably I was only giving as good as I got but...I did love you. I still do. I never wanted us to fall apart as we did.”

“I know that now, Chanyeol. But your love for him is different. He can give you things that are impossible for me to give,” she paused at that, looking around the room and stopping when her eyes fell on a photograph of Baekhyun and Chanyeol at Chanyeol’s mother’s house one Christmas. “He met your mom, Chanyeol. He must be a keeper. I haven’t forgotten how strict she is about who she lets around her baby boy!” 

Well, Hyerin was certainly right about that. Chanyeol’s mother adored Baekhyun and saw him as a second son. In fact, introducing his boyfriend to his mom was one of his proudest moments. 

“And if he’s good enough for Mama Park,” she reached across and finally grabbed his hand, breaking the wall that had been erected between them for good, “He’s good enough for my son. I want you to tell Minsoo. The kid can’t be 30 thinking his dad lives with his ‘special friend’,” she poked fun at him just as she had when they were children, “it isn’t 1930, Chanyeol.”

Finally, Chanyeol could breathe. Soon, all of his secrets would be out and he would be able to love all of his favourite people the way he always wished he could. 

  
  


*** 

“Minsoo!” Baekhyun yelled up the stairs, frantically checking his watch, stressing about the time, “School starts in 20 minutes what on earth are you doing!?”

“Looking for my shoes!” They boy called down the stairs, “I can’t find them!” 

Great. Yet another Tuesday morning spent rushing around the house like headless chickens, really struggling to get Minsoo to school on time. Baekhyun swore that the school run had aged him about 10 years. Ha! He was finally catching up with Chanyeol. 

“You look far too pleased with yourself!” Baekhyun snapped at his boyfriend who was watching the chaos from afar, arms crossed casually as though he wasn’t witnessing his boyfriend losing his mind, “you’re lucky you don’t have work after this! I’m going to be completely exhausted by the time I get onto the ward.”

It had taken about one month before Minsoo requested - well, more demanded - that Baekhyun take him to school once a week because he wanted to introduce him to his friends and show off his cool new stepdad. While Baekhyun was so flattered that he cried in Chanyeol’s arms later that night in bed, he also hated the stress of it all. He just couldn’t fathom why the small boy wouldn’t leave his school shoes by the door.   
  


Chanyeol looked at him in pity, trying not to let his amusement show. To hide his smile, he kissed Baekhyun on his pursed lips, prolonging the contact between their lips until he felt Baekhyun melt under his touch and wrap his arms around Chanyeol’s neck. 

“Hmmm, I love you,” Baekhyun spoke into Chanyeol’s mouth, “I wish I could fuck you right here right now.”

“Na ah!” Chanyeol stepped back and bopped him on the nose with his index finger, “you’ll have to wait, daddy number two. You have parenting responsibilities now. Look at you getting old.”   
  


Baekhyun smacked him on the arm, slightly offended but also loving being referred to as Minsoo’s parent. The small boy had even taken to calling Baekhyun ‘dad’ sometimes when he was caught up in the moment and Baekhyun had to hold back proud tears every time.

As if on cue, Minsoo bounced down the stairs, thankfully wearing two shoes and on the right feet! Baekhyun clapped with glee and grabbed the boy’s small rucksack. A new one purchased by Baekhyun himself.

“Come on then, little man!” He ruffled Minsoo’s hair and led him out of the door but not before stealing one more kiss from Chanyeol. 

“Please rush home,” Chanyeol whined, already missing Baekhyun’s presence before he’d even stepped out of the house. “I’ll miss you too much.”

Baekhyun pouted, pecking Chanyeol yet another time. “I’ll miss you so much that it will probably kill me.”

Another peck from Chanyeol and he said, “I’ll miss you so much that I might have to f-”

“DAD!” Minsoo screamed for Baekhyun, “we’re going to be LATE!”

As per usual, Baekhyun’s bottom lip began to tremble, his heart bursting with pride at being called ‘dad’ once again before Chanyeol pushed him out the door. 

“Yeah, dad!” Chanyeol teased with a laugh and a wave, pushing Baekhyun down the front step, beckoning him towards their car, “you’ll make him late.”

Before he closed the door, he offered Baekhyun a wink, ready to explode from all of the love and adoration bouncing around inside of him. 

“I love you both. More than you will ever know.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, as always, for reading this far. 
> 
> I'm honestly not as confident about this one as some of my other fics but I wanted to try something different for a change. No harm in that! Or maybe there was much harm and it's shite! Who knows?  
> Comments and kudos are really appreciated! Comments especially bc I like to know what you think!  
> For more fics etc. head over to my twitter (@YeolOutof10) where I will be grumbling about smth probably. In a friendly kind of way. 
> 
> Thanks again. MWAH :-*


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